The Blooming Durians
The Blooming Durians is a form of music used for entertainment originating in The Manageable Silt-Loam. The form guides musicians during improvised performances. A singer recites any composition of The Fruity Geology while the music is played on a cutayulineli and a ecilero. The musical voices bring melody, counterpoint and rhythm. The melody and counterpoint both have short phrases throughout the form. Chords, seldom-used, are sparse -- intervals and single pitches are favored. The music repeats for as long as necessary. It is performed using the iwarivuli scale and in the moro rhythm. Throughout, when possible, performers are to use grace notes and alternate tension and repose.
- The singer always should perform with feeling and is to be soft.
- The cutayulineli always should be delicate and is to fade into silence.
- The ecilero always should be delicate and is to be in whispered undertones.
- The Blooming Durians has a well-defined multi-passage structure: an introduction and a passage and an additional brief passage.
- The introduction is voiced by the melody of the ecilero and the rhythm of the cutayulineli. The passage gradually slows as it comes to an end. The cutayulineli covers its entire range.
- The first simple passage is voiced by the melody of the singer, the melody of the cutayulineli and the rhythm of the ecilero. The passage slows and broadens. The singer's voice stays in the low register and the cutayulineli ranges from the middle register to the high register.
- The second simple passage is voiced by the melody of the cutayulineli, the counterpoint of the singer and the rhythm of the ecilero. The passage is at a hurried pace. The cutayulineli covers its entire range and the singer's voice stays in the high register.
- Scales are constructed from twelve notes spaced evenly throughout the octave. The tonic note is a fixed tone passed from teacher to student. Every note is named. The names are ucame (spoken uc), ifiyo (if), izeli (iz), bone (bo), umamalu (um), emayethi (em), ithi (ith), seyawi (se), mila (mi), ezococa (ez), ebecari (eb) and viceva (vi).
- The iwarivuli pentatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 3rd, the 6th, the 7th and the 8th.
- The moro rhythm is a single line with four beats divided into two bars in a 2-2 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
- | - x | - x |
- where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
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